September 23, 2012

Burn iPhones, Haredi Rabbi Rules

A senior haredi rabbi has ruled that not only it is forbidden to own an iPhone, it is forbidden to sell or give one to a non-Jew. There, the rabbi says, you must burn them.

Updated at 7:20 pm CDT

In a teshuva (responsum), written to a business owner who claimed that owning an iPhone was “crucial for [his business] dealings” and that was published today in the haredi daily Yated Ne’eman, haredi “gadol” Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky reportedly ruled that “it is forbidden to posses” [an iPhone]. And not only can’t you own or posses an iPhone, if you have one, you must burn it. “[O]ne must burn it,” Kanievsky wrote, adding that “just as it is forbidden to sell a weapon to a non-Jew,” it is forbidden to sell (or give) a non-Jew an iPhone.

The sign posted above is now reportedly posted in synagogues in Bnei Brak where Kanievsky lives. It cites his ruling and tells readers to burn their iPhones.

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